Tag Archives: Keystone XL pipeline

Here is a list of things that have a direct impact on current gas prices: oil speculation; increased tensions with, and sanctions on, oil-producing nations like Iran; and high levels of global demand due to economic growth and increased consumption among developing nations.

Here is a list of things that do not have an impact on current gas prices: approving pipelines to import dirty fossil fuels, increasing drilling, and EPA regulations. So even though the President threw his weight behind building a section of Keystone that won’t be operational for at least 18 months, the drone of “drill baby drill” continues, and the House GOP has introduced a bill to investigate the impact of EPA regulations on gas prices and delay the implementation of any regulations until six months after a report has been issued.

The House bill specifically attacks regulations that would reduce sulfur in gasoline and implement new source performance standards for petroleum refiners, renewable fuel standards, ozone standards and some greenhouse gas regulations. This attack is so wrong-headed, I don’t know where to begin.

First of all, it is an embarrassingly abject love letter to the fossil fuel industry — which has given nearly $40 million in campaign donations to Republicans since the start of the 2010 election cycle and last year spent $148 million on lobbying in Washington. Second, reducing sulfur in gasoline reduces smog-causing pollution, which will result in overall cost savings due to improved public health. We’ve detailed before how reducing the amount of ozone emitted also results in overall cost savings. In fact, as Jack Temple pointed out, the benefits of federal regulation far outweigh the costs.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the House and Senate GOP plan to attach an amendment forcing the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline to a completely unrelated piece of legislation. This time around, it’s the transportation bill that is getting the Keystone amendment. While killing the worst transportation bill ever offered wouldn’t be a total tragedy, the GOP’s continued attempts to force through the pipeline at any cost is starting to get old.

photo by Xjs-Khaos via flickr

We’ve discussed all the reasons the Keystone XL pipeline should be rejected. Among the many: the pipeline is not a job creator, the environmental consequences of the pipeline will be disastrous, and it will do little to bring us closer to energy independence. Adding to this list, the claims of reinvigorating the steel industry seem to be false. Just last week, Representative Mike Doyle challenged TransCanada to certify its claim that 75 percent of the steel would come from North America because he had discovered that 148 miles of the pipeline had already been constructed in India.

Meanwhile, the real job creator is continually ignored. A new report details how investments in clean energy and environmental sustainability resulted in one of the few sectors to report job growth during a time of overall job loss. While the total number of jobs created dropped by one percent in 2007-2008, green jobs grew during that same time period by five percent.